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GSIS Gazette – Issue #47

7th May 2021

Principal's Column

Dear Members of the School Community

After school resumption from Lessons 1 to 7, all our students, especially our younger ones, are happy to be able to see their teachers and friends again every day. In Kindergarten and Pre-school there is relief and a happy mood. The same goes for our Secondary Department, although we can also detect a bit of tension around due to the ongoing IGCSE, IBDP and Abitur exams in Y11, Y13 and K12.

While the English International Stream students are currently sitting their written examinations, in the German International Stream it is time for the German International Abitur (DIA) oral exams, which are coming up next week. In the German school system, these are a challenging addition to the three written Abitur examinations that were already completed in February. 

Each student has to attend at least two oral exams, and it is mostly these exams that many will remember for the rest of their lives. The DIA orals consist of one oral examination as well as a presentation examination. In the oral examination, the so-called fourth examination component (“Prüfungskomponente” – PK), the student is questioned on topics that are presented to him/her on that day. For the presentation examination, the fifth PK, which contains a scientific topic with a problem-oriented question, the student has about four weeks time to prepare.

The oral examinations show whether one can adequately present learning content in a concise and clear form in front of an audience in an examination situation. On the day of the examination (4th PK), under the supervision of teachers each candidate prepares for his or her performance before the examination board. The examination board consists of a subject examiner, a minute-taker and an examination chairperson.

Before the actual examination, the candidate receives a sheet with his/her task for the first part of the examination. The preparation time is 20 minutes, after which the candidate is accompanied to the examination room. The examination is conducted by the subject examiner. The chairperson may also ask the candidate questions.

The examination has two parts: In the first part, the candidate is required to speak freely and coherently about the respective topic. In the second part of the examination, the examination discussion shall open up larger subject-related contexts and clarify further subject-related areas that result from the respective task. The duration of the oral examination is usually 20 minutes. Afterwards, the examination board discusses the candidate’s performance.

The presentation examination or 5th examination component, which takes place the following day, also consists of two parts and begins with an independent presentation followed by an examination discussion. The 5th PK examination is intended to test project-oriented learning, the interdisciplinary understanding of learning content as well as communicative competence. The presentation by the candidate is a systematic account of the chosen topic and demonstrates his/her in-depth analysis of the topic and a subject-specific as well as interdisciplinary understanding. The presentation is usually media-supported and may contain experimental or artistic elements. 

The two oral Abitur examinations are not only a challenging supplement to the three written examinations, but also an excellent preparation for later university examination situations. 

Over the last few weeks, our Y13 and K12 students have shown that they are not only doggedly working towards exam results, but are also in good spirits with a good sense of humour. Almost every day, little jokes and great costumes were elements of their last school days. 

Now I wish all students good luck and much success for the remaining written and oral exams and look forward to the K12 Abitur ceremony on 15 May and the Y13 Graduation Ceremony on 27 May.

I wish you all a nice weekend.

Ulrich Weghoff
Principal
Email


Dear Members of the School Community

After school resumption from Lessons 1 to 7, all our students, especially our younger ones, are happy to be able to see their teachers and friends again every day. In Kindergarten and Pre-school there is relief and a happy mood. The same goes for our Secondary Department, although we can also detect a bit of tension around due to the ongoing IGCSE, IBDP and Abitur exams in Y11, Y13 and K12.

While the English International Stream students are currently sitting their written examinations, in the German International Stream it is time for the German International Abitur (DIA) oral exams, which are coming up next week. In the German school system, these are a challenging addition to the three written Abitur examinations that were already completed in February. 

Each student has to attend at least two oral exams, and it is mostly these exams that many will remember for the rest of their lives. The DIA orals consist of one oral examination as well as a presentation examination. In the oral examination, the so-called fourth examination component (“Prüfungskomponente” – PK), the student is questioned on topics that are presented to him/her on that day. For the presentation examination, the fifth PK, which contains a scientific topic with a problem-oriented question, the student has about four weeks time to prepare.

The oral examinations show whether one can adequately present learning content in a concise and clear form in front of an audience in an examination situation. On the day of the examination (4th PK), under the supervision of teachers each candidate prepares for his or her performance before the examination board. The examination board consists of a subject examiner, a minute-taker and an examination chairperson.

Before the actual examination, the candidate receives a sheet with his/her task for the first part of the examination. The preparation time is 20 minutes, after which the candidate is accompanied to the examination room. The examination is conducted by the subject examiner. The chairperson may also ask the candidate questions.

The examination has two parts: In the first part, the candidate is required to speak freely and coherently about the respective topic. In the second part of the examination, the examination discussion shall open up larger subject-related contexts and clarify further subject-related areas that result from the respective task. The duration of the oral examination is usually 20 minutes. Afterwards, the examination board discusses the candidate’s performance.

The presentation examination or 5th examination component, which takes place the following day, also consists of two parts and begins with an independent presentation followed by an examination discussion. The 5th PK examination is intended to test project-oriented learning, the interdisciplinary understanding of learning content as well as communicative competence. The presentation by the candidate is a systematic account of the chosen topic and demonstrates his/her in-depth analysis of the topic and a subject-specific as well as interdisciplinary understanding. The presentation is usually media-supported and may contain experimental or artistic elements. 

The two oral Abitur examinations are not only a challenging supplement to the three written examinations, but also an excellent preparation for later university examination situations. 

Over the last few weeks, our Y13 and K12 students have shown that they are not only doggedly working towards exam results, but are also in good spirits with a good sense of humour. Almost every day, little jokes and great costumes were elements of their last school days. 

Now I wish all students good luck and much success for the remaining written and oral exams and look forward to the K12 Abitur ceremony on 15 May and the Y13 Graduation Ceremony on 27 May.

I wish you all a nice weekend.

Ulrich Weghoff
Principal
Email


News from the Board

Dear Parents

The Boards are pleased to inform you that the Education Bureau (EDB) has granted a 6 month extension to the Pok Fu Lam campus lease as dialogue continues.

The EDB has received and forwarded various queries relating to mostly legacy allegations and issues concerning GSIS going back to 2012. A first response has been submitted by the school in April and there have been subsequent queries forwarded by the EDB which are currently being addressed by the school. The EDB will consider approving a longer term Pok Fu Lam lease extension once all queries have been resolved.

We would encourage members of the community to address any queries, concerns or complaints directly to school management and/or the GSIS Association Board in accordance with the Community Communication Policy.

The External Affairs Taskforce (EATF) will continue to liaise closely with the EDB in connection with the renewal of the Pok Fu Lam campus lease.

Best regards

GSIS Association Board
Email


Community Committee

After the success of our first Online Quiz Night, the Community Committee is hosting a second event!!

So, get a team together and log on to compete against your fellow students, parents, alumni and staff. The three teams with the most points at the end of the quiz will win some fantastic prizes.

Who?

Team of 1 - 5 people. Staff, students, parents and alumni all welcome!  The team can join from the same, or across different locations, whichever is preferred.

What?

Kahoot! Is the quiz platform. Quiz categories will include The Arts, Food & Drink, Science, Politics and more.

When?

The quiz starts at 7pm, on Thursday, 20th May

How?

If you’re up for the challenge, please register your team by Tuesday 18th May via our online quiz registration form.

Finally a few friendly reminders:

  1. Please help us collect positive feedback, warm memories and words of appreciation to present to staff members via our online staff appreciation form - all comments will remain anonymous.
  2. Please take a few minutes to complete our Christmas Bazaar feedback form so we ensure that we keep everyone's favourite parts of the Bazaar as well as including some new fun and festive ideas.
  3. In case you find yourself or a loved one in the situation of being a close contact and sent to a quarantine centre we have attached a list of items that you may wish to pack to make your time in quarantine a bit easier.

Please feel free to contact us via communitycommittee@gsis.edu.hk at any time should you or your family require a care package or need any help.

Community Committee
Email


Attachments
https://www.gsis.edu.hk/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Suggested-packing-items-for-quarantine.pdf

Schoolwide News

University Guidance: Upcoming Events (External)

German International Stream

Kindergarten Corner

Dear Parents

We would like to remind you of the Parent-Teacher Conferences on Thursday 13 and Friday 14 May. If you have not done so, please book an appointment to meet up with your child’s class teacher. Please remember that there will be no school for Kindergarten children on Friday 14 May.

We wish you a fabulous weekend and an amazing Mother’s Day.

A Mother’s Love

Of all the special joys in life,

The big ones and the small,

A mother’s love and tenderness

Is the greatest of them all.

~ Anon.

Sophie Burdel
Head of Kindergarten
Email
Eileen Mah
Deputy Head of Kindergarten and Deputy Child Protection Officer Pok Fu Lam Campus
Email

Departmental News and Announcements

No updates / announcements this week.

Primary Corner

Dear Parents

CLIPPY - Cultural and Language Integration Programme Primary Years

This week you will have come across the advertisement for our new programme "CLIPPY".

In the past months, a working group of our Primary Department has been discussing ideas how we can integrate children without knowledge of German into our German Primary Department. With the CLIPPY programme we have found a way to integrate these students. When creating the concept, it was important to us that we accept children who can easily follow the school programme under a German curriculum after language acquisition. The families have to make a conscious decision for the German school system and they should also have an interest in the GSIS community with its diverse cultural background. Let me introduce you to Clippy – the class mascot of the DaF (German as a Foreign Language) class.

In the Gazette of 16 March, Mr Weghoff presented the main features of the CLIPPY programme to you. Here you can find the link to this article again:

https://www.gsis.edu.hk/en/gazette/issue-42/#principal

In this hybrid system, the children are taught in the CLIPPY class for half of the teaching time and participate in the minor subjects such as Maths in the regular class. We are convinced that the children will learn German during one year.

The new DaF teacher is not only available to the CLIPPY classes, but also to other students who require DaF support.

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any further questions!

Child Protection

Last week, Ms Neumann-Hillebrand started visiting all Primary Department classes to talk about child protection. She particularly addressed what child protection means and who the children can turn to with problems.

It may be that your child has further questions about this topic as a result of this visit. We encourage you to discuss this with your children as well. You are also welcome to contact Ms Neumann-Hillebrand (aneumann-hillebrand@gsis.edu.hk) directly. This may be with questions about child protection, but also if you need support with questions from your children.

Book Week

Next week will be Book Week and I am already looking forward to seeing the children in their pyjamas on Monday morning, where they can crawl under the covers with their book and a torch to get in the mood for Book Week.

I am also pleased that we have once again found an author who will present ist works to us online. You are certainly familiar with Ritter Rost – Mr Jörg Hilbert will tell the students how the stories and the drawings came about.

You will have seen the exact details of the Book Week in the last Gazette.

I wish you a wonderful weekend and hope that all the children and fathers will pay extra attention and pamper the mothers on Sunday.

Priska Erni
Head of German Primary Department
Email
Inga Riedel-Narayan
Deputy Head of German Primary Department
Email

Departmental News and Announcements

No updates / announcements this week.

Secondary Corner

Dear Parents

Last Friday we welcomed Dr Lamlé - founder of LaKi Kids International - to GSIS to tell our Upper Secondary students (K10, K11 and K12) about her work.

LaKi Kids International is an NGO that supports disadvantaged children in developing countries both medically and socially. Dr Lamlé gave an inspiring talk about her missions in various places around the world and the surgeries she performs there together with local medical teams on children with cleft lips and palates (cleft children).

You can find out more about LaKi Kids at this link:

https://en.laki-kids.org/

Wiebke Langer
Head of German Secondary Department
Email
Arnold Leitner
Deputy Head of German Secondary Department
Email

Departmental News and Announcements

No updates / announcements this week.

English International Stream

Kindergarten Corner

Dear Parents

We would like to remind you of the Parent-Teacher Conferences on Thursday 13 and Friday 14 May. If you have not done so, please book an appointment to meet up with your child’s class teacher. Please remember that there will be no school for Kindergarten children on Friday 14 May.

We wish you a fabulous weekend and an amazing Mother’s Day.

A Mother’s Love

Of all the special joys in life,

The big ones and the small,

A mother’s love and tenderness

Is the greatest of them all.

~ Anon.

Sophie Burdel
Head of Kindergarten
Email
Eileen Mah
Deputy Head of Kindergarten and Deputy Child Protection Officer Pok Fu Lam Campus
Email

Departmental News and Announcements

No updates / announcements this week.

Primary Corner

Departmental News and Announcements

No updates / announcements this week.

Secondary Corner

The Week Past

I do hope that the past week of lessons has gone well. From what I have observed, there has been a sense of “normality” about the school which is to the benefit of us all.

The Week(s) to come

Next week (10 May) the timetable returns to normal (lesson 1-7 in school) with no rotation in place.

For Y13 students, we hope to get some firm confirmation of arrangements for the Graduation celebrations on 27 May out via email at some point in the coming week.

The Public Examinations for the IB Diploma (Y13) and the IGCSE Programme (Y11 and some Y10 students) continue for the weeks ahead. These have gone well so far, and I wish the students continued good luck and success in their remaining examinations.

Ken Stevenson
Head of English Secondary Department
Email


Departmental News and Announcements

No updates / announcements this week.

Book Reviews

Departmental News and Announcements

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

Alumni

Upcoming Events 2021

Careers Workshop

Thursday 20 May 2021
12:00 - 15:20 HKT
TBC
More Info »

Class of 1996 & Class of 2001 Alumni Reunion

Thursday 17 Jun 2021
18:00 - 21:00 HKT
German Swiss International School
More Info »

Community Networking Breakfast

Friday 17 Sep 2021
08:00 - 11:00 HKT
LRC, Mid Levels
More Info »

Annual Alumni Reception

Wednesday 24 Nov 2021
18:00 - 22:00 HKT
Watermark, Central
More Info »

Community Committee's Christmas Bazaar

Saturday 27 Nov 2021
German Swiss International School
More Info »

THIS WEEK IN IMAGES

[sgdg path="Gazette/This Weeks Happenings/Gazette 47"]

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